David Beckham will reject the chance to make one final appearance for England, a person familiar with the former captain's plans said Thursday. Coach Fabio Capello said Wednesday that the 35-year-old Beckham was too old to continue playing competitively for England, but offered him an opportunity to say farewell to fans in an exhibition. Beckham, who is recovering from an Achilles' tendon injury that denied him a trip to a fourth World Cup, has played 115 times for England, second to goalkeeper Peter Shilton on the country's all-time appearance list.

As Metta World Peace goes, so go the Lakers. Their second unit, anyway. He's been hit or miss this season, metta or messy, scoring 19 points one game but following it up a few days later with no points on 0-for-8 shooting. Lakers Coach Mike Brown made a move already at small forward, replacing Devin Ebanks with Matt Barnes in the starting lineup. He continued to have faith in World Peace. Brown likes him with the second unit because he can find his own shot there, no longer competing with Kobe Bryant , Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum for touches.

What an incredible summer it turned out to be in 2007, and not just because Kobe Bryant went on a "trade-me" rant, which led to the Lakers acquiring Pau Gasol the following season, which led to NBA championships in 2009 and 2010. That summer also marked the Lakers' last significant participation in that thing known as the NBA draft. They had a first-round pick six years ago and actually used it, selecting Javaris Crittenton with the 19th overall selection. His career didn't turn out so well, though he was eventually used as a piece in the 2008 trade to acquire Gasol.

Shannon Brown had suitors. Six of them or so. Some offered the free-agent guard more money than he might make if he returned to the Lakers. He thought about that. But in the two years Brown had spent in purple and gold, he won two rings. He thought about that too. Eventually, the idea of three in a row was too much to pass up, and the guard agreed to a two-year contract worth about $4.6 million to stay with the Lakers, his agent, Mark Bartelstein, said Thursday. "Obviously, the process took a while, but Shannon wanted to be here and they wanted him," Bartelstein said.

There's a little basketball team trying to emerge from the Southern California sports soup of six major pro teams and two Pac-12 universities. The Los Angeles D-Fenders, virtually ignored by basketball fans the last five years, are trying to market minor league basketball in L.A. by tying themselves to the Lakers. That's because both teams are owned by Jerry Buss. The D-Fenders are the Lakers' NBA Development League affiliate, though it's rare for them to feature actual Lakers in their games.

Kobe Bryant was more facilitator than scorer Tuesday against Houston, part of his gradual recovery from off-season knee surgery that prevented the Lakers' top player from being at full strength in the season opener. He improved his outside touch after a one-for-five start, finishing with 27 points on eight-for-20 shooting, not that he ever doubted it would happen. "Do you really have to worry about me finding my shot?" he said crisply after Wednesday's practice. It's only one game into the season, and the Lakers have an easy schedule until late December, but Bryant's progress will continue to be monitored until he shows signs of regaining the burst and lift he possessed before his right knee started hurting toward the end of last season.

If this really was Phil Jackson's last game in Chicago, it wasn't one he'll remember. The Lakers lost to the Bulls in a game that was sloppy, slushy and gray, much like the day-old snow covering the city Friday. They couldn't stop Derrick Rose and continued to have trouble getting out of the 80s, their latest setback a turnover-filled 88-84 loss at United Center. If winning away from home is the mark of a good team, the Lakers don't look anything like two-time defending champions.

It's one of the few unspoken postscripts to the Lakers' championship run last season, nothing short of a fallacy in some basketball circles. Should Pau Gasol have been the MVP of the NBA Finals instead of Kobe Bryant? Detractors of the facts ? that Bryant won the award over Gasol because of a 7-2 vote by media members ? point to Bryant's six-for-24 effort in the Lakers' Game 7 victory against Boston, while Bryant's supporters eagerly present his overall stats in the Finals ?

Joe Smith, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 1995, is in his 16th season in the NBA, has made the playoffs nine times and once averaged nearly 19 points a game. But when he came off the bench for the Lakers late in Sunday's embarrassing 104-85 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, he was carrying a white flag. That's not exactly how he envisioned his Lakers debut. "It's just a tough situation for anybody because you know that, pretty much, they're throwing in the towel at that point," said Smith, who played the final 4 minutes 36 seconds Sunday, blocking a shot and getting called for a foul.

The Lakers didn't seem quite like the Lakers for the better part of a week, but it could always be worse. They could be the Sacramento Kings. If the Lakers played the Kings every game, they'd be in serious pursuit of the Chicago Bulls' record-setting 72-10 mark come April, but, back in reality, they were thrilled to face Sacramento simply to get a victory. Kobe Bryant had 22 points, Pau Gasol played well enough on one good leg, and the Lakers easily ended their first four-game losing streak since April 2007 by thumping the Kings, 113-80, Friday at Staples Center.